The idea of Father’s Day was conceived slightly more than a century ago by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., while she listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm.

When responding to the more than 1.2 million blazes reported annually, the nation's firefighters usually start with a dangerous disadvantage: They often lack critical information—even something as basic as a floor plan—that could be vitally important in mounting the most effective and safest attack.

The Department of Commerce recently signed a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with Microsoft that is estimated to save the department nearly $8 million in taxpayer dollars. The agreement, in effect for three years, will help Commerce achieve IT efficiency and user productivity goals through the use of the latest technologies that help the department work at the speed of business.

Today, Secretary Pritzker and the Commerce Department released a report showcasing that in 2014, nearly 3.2 million jobs—44 percent of all jobs supported by goods exports—were supported by the export of goods to our Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners.

Yesterday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews met with Korea’s Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) to discuss progress under the commercial dialogue between Commerce and MOTIE. During their meeting, the deputy secretary reaffirmed the mutual commitment to expanding trade and economic cooperation between the United States and the Republic of Korea.

Colombia is a major trading partner with the United States, and we have many mutually beneficial business collaborations. One American business that has profited from engaging in trade relations with Colombia is Polyguard Products, resulting in a partnership that has grown steadily within the last nine years.

In a formal swearing-in ceremony, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker welcomed 27 Foreign Commercial Service officers and one Intellectual Property Attaché from the Patent and Trademark Office to the Commerce team.